Wear Once Loved, a designer and high-end fashion rental boutique based in Newry, clinches the title of 2023 Best New Start-Up Business at the I AM Beauty Local Women Magazine Awards, held in the Europa Hotel, Belfast.
Wear Once Loved opened its doors on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023. The company which was founded by successful Newry business woman Trisha Heaney has gone from strength to strength. This award marks a significant milestone for Wear Once Loved since its establishment in March. The recognition of being nominated and shortlisted alongside ten exceptional finalists from Northern Ireland was already a great honour, showcasing the boutique’s rapid ascent in the competitive fashion industry.
High end designer dresses for a fraction of the price.
The Newry based company is offering customers the chance to wear high end designer dresses for a fraction of the price. Wear Once Loved allows its customers the luxury of renting out high end, designer dresses from fashion brands such as Rebecca Vallance, Nadine Merabi and Rotate Birger Christenen for as little as £50.
The store owner, Trisha Heaney, 33, said renting a dress is the perfect solution for ladies who want to look their best in high end designer dresses and not have to spend the money to do so.
Wear Once Loved rents high end and designer dresses from £45 to £135 and customers can hold the dresses for a minimum of four days, the rental price includes the dry clean of the item so the customer simply just has to return it. If the customer visits the store from afar, we will take the booking and post to them along with a returns pack next day delivery to ensure the dress arrives the day before their event to save them a journey.
Speaking to Clanrye News and Sport Trisha said:
“Unfortunately, the influence of social media has led women to believe that they shouldn’t re-wear an outfit once it’s been shared online.”
The business grew from her own wardrobe, keeping dresses thinking she would wear them again someday.
Over the past 5-6 years, I’ve reached an age where I’ve attended numerous weddings. Typically, I’d purchase a dress, wear it once, and then it would hang in my wardrobe, just in case I ever had the opportunity to wear it again. However, more often than not, I didn’t.”
Wear Once Loved was born.
“Back in 2017 I set up a Facebook page and a website that I called “Second Chance Clothing” I was using as a guinea pig for marketing strategies, trial and error for our sister company, I Am Digital Group, a marketing agency also based in Newry. The name didn’t really sit well with me, having chatted about it with Amy, a member of staff at the time we came up with Wear Once Loved as I always found myself saying I’ve only worn that once.”
“I pushed it but I didn’t push it hard, I let it go to the back burner but it was always in the back of my mind that I always wanted to do something to do with second-hand fashion.
Initially, having no interest in renting clothes until her mother and sisters started engaging in it. She contemplated selling the pieces online but realised it wouldn’t be cost-effective.”
“In January this year, an opportunity arose to expand the business and open a store. I have always admired the big window at the front of the store, I was scrolling on property pal and seen the unit had went up for rent and it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss she said. “It happened really quickly, almost overnight. It was an ideal location with ample parking; it is just off the motorway, 15 minutes from Dundalk, less than 15 minutes from Banbridge and an hour from Belfast and Dublin. I didn’t want to be in the city centre, yes by all means there would be more foot fall but with that comes hefty rent and rates and the hassle of parking.”
“I viewed the unit the last week of January and I had the keys on February 2, we were straight in getting the unit refurbished and it all moved pretty quickly from there.
Wear Once Loved officially opened on International Women’s day this year and has already become a staple for many of Northern Ireland’s influencers. As we knew we were opening I had reached out to influencer Caroline McNeill (Digg Mama) about taking part in her Big Day Out Events in Armagh and Newry. The weekend we opened Caroline came down to our store to pick outfits for her to wear to her shows, whilst in store she posted on her instagram and from there we took off.”
Support from Influencers
“From my background in marketing I was very fortunate to be able to work with my team at I Am Digital to build our brand, website and use different marketing strategies to launch. From the get go we knew influencers would help us grow. We have been so lucky to have been able to dress many influencers such as Annalivia Hynes, Olivia McVeigh, Denise Curran, Grainne and Bronagh McCoy and Sarah’s Secret Blog.”
“In August, we hosted our VIP Influencer Launch Night with DJ Magiggs at The Jailhouse, choosing Belfast as our venue due to the absence of rental stores in the city. Our goal was to elevate brand awareness and firmly establish Wear Once Loved’s presence. The attendance social media influencers at the event was key in achieving this objective.”
“We always keep an eye on socials to see what influencers are wearing and if it’s a good fit for our store and see the rental potential in the item we will purchase it. We seen a fabulous dress on Emma Kearney [Newry TikTok star] that she wore to a wedding, we were able to source it in different sizes. We posted a picture, as seen on Emma Kearney and now we have girls coming in looking for that particular dress. In recent weeks, we had two dresses in store by chance that we had purchased one on Pippa O’Connor and another on Maeve Madden. We reposted their image of them wearing it and fair play to Maeve she reshared our post which we never expected.”
“We’ve been truly amazed by the support we’ve received from influencers and local businesses whom we haven’t had the chance to collaborate with yet. We always receive support from Charlene Byers, a local businesswoman from The Dress House in Mayobridge. She occasionally showcases our dresses paired with her headpieces and accessories tagging us in her stories, and the brand awareness we gain from this is invaluable. It’s fantastic to be a part of the thriving business community in Newry, where businesses not only support one another but also actively support the local community.
“As a result we now have clients from across the UK and Ireland thanks to its popularity amongst social media influencers. We have ladies placing their rental online on our website which we ship to them. The power influencers have is incredible, as a marketer it has had a huge impact on our business and helped us grow our following on instagram to over 21,500 ladies based predominantly in NI and ROI.”
Travelling from across the country to visit.
Believe it or not people do travel to visit us, and when you’re in our store, you’ll hear accents from all over the country. We’ve had ladies come for a day out to our store from places like Sligo, Derry, Belfast, Dublin, and even as far as Wexford and Limerick.
“This week we had two girls visit the store from Sligo for numerous events over Christmas and a few weeks back we had a lady and her friend come up from Wexford to visit us, we couldn’t believe it and asked, ‘You drove to Newry?’ and she said, ‘Yes, it’s a day out’.” They drove over 125 miles to look at dresses they seen on our Instagram. It’s surreal to be honest; I know I wouldn’t go to the effort. If the customer visits the store, we will take the booking and post to them along with a returns pack on next day delivery to ensure the dress arrives the day before their event.”
“In recent years, as fears around the environmental impact of fast fashion continue to mount, the idea of renting clothes is becoming more popular.
“A lot more people are considering it than before,” said Trisha. “It means you can get a good quality dress and it isn’t going to waste in your wardrobe.”
“If we choose to, we have to get our makeup done, our hair done and our nails. It costs around £45 to get your makeup done now and maybe £30-£35 to get your hair done, so before you have even put a dress on you have spent over £100.”
Winning the award two weeks ago has significantly boosted the visibility and recognition of our shop. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to our customers and the incredible Team WOL – Eimear, Aoibhinn, Laura, Anna, Caroline, Megan, and Maria. Their dedication and hard work have been crucial to the success of Wear Once Loved. I couldn’t ask for a better team.
Beginning this Thursday, 23rd November, we are delighted to host a special in-store clearance sale. The event, coinciding with Black Friday weekend, will showcase a range of pre-loved and ex-rental items. Customers can look forward to discovering excellent deals, including a wide array of dresses and other items at bargain prices. Many of these items have been worn just once, and some still retain their original tags. Additionally, we’re offering an exclusive 10% discount on dress rentals for all Clanrye Newsreaders.
ENDS
CLANRYE NEWS 